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Thursday, 3 September 2015

Taranis Tanks by Bob Naismith first parts and render

Last time we announced the existence of Project Taranis in a blog post telling everyone we were working with industry legend Bob Naismith on designs for a brilliant main battle tank in 15mm scale for The Ion Age. I am happy to be able to tell you that all the pieces for the Taranis project are now sculpted and printed and origination molding is well underway. Sam Croes is now heading up the project and we now want to show you some of the 3D printed parts as well as physical sculpting work by Bob Naismith on the tank pieces and then to outline what you can expect in the coming month or so.

Above you can see a line drawing of the final version of the Taranis Model 40 Tracked Type 83 Command Turret vehicle. The dimensions of this variant of Taranis will be approximately 90mm long, 76mm wide and 35mm tall making it a mighty combat vehicle indeed. Armed with a Bodkin AP Mk52 130mm Cannon and a Angis Mk9 22mm Automatic Rifle its titanium alloy hull weighs in at over eighty five tons and it is crewed by four men or women of the Retained or Muster. Its extra wide tracks give the Model 40 superb mobility over almost all terrain including exotic alien landscapes.

While it is not possible to show you all of the parts of Taranis Model 40 at this time we do have four images each with a 15mm scale Retained Knight (16mm tall) for scale for you to view. The first image shows the main hull piece of the tank and you can see all of the detail and the ring for the turret to be mounted upon. This piece is 90mm long and 50mm wide and will sit atop a lower hull section to which the tracked pod pieces will be side mounted. Despite its size and vigour it was always our aim that Taranis would be easy to assemble and supplied in a dozen or so parts giving a main battle tank that is impressive and very durable for use on the tabletop.

The Taranis Model 40 will have a wide choice of upper pieces such as turrets. Above you can see the 3D printed piece the twin barrelled attack turret mounting two Ron 145mm Hi-Ex Launchers for urban and close in warfare. You can see its size next to the 16mm tall Retained Knight miniature.

While all of the pieces for Taranis were 3D printed Bob Naismith did further fine work on some of the parts before passing them on for origination molding with us. Above is the body (minus the gun barrel) of the Type 83 Command Turret which is assigned to Taranis tank platoons and features the main gun as well as a rotary Moth cannon and a combined range and comms suit module. Additional fine work was done to the print and you can see the results on the right.

We have had designed a total of seven different top pieces and turrets for the Taranis Model 40 main battle tank thus far. Most of these are variant turrets giving this tracked tank assigned roles such as a battle tank, command tank, assault tank as well as exotic turrets like the super heavy Fretan SPB9 Sequence Particle Beamer. There is also an artillery support variant with Anda 115mm Missiles and lastly above the special piece hand crafted by Bob Naismith for the Taranis Model 40 Armoured Personnel Carrier which can comfortably transport a dozen Retained Knights in full armour.

We hope you have enjoyed this update. In the next update we will show you all of the pieces in resin and white metal that make up the Taranis Model 40 Tracked main battle Tank as well as the types of turrets and other items to make all of the variants of that tank. We will also outline our plan for release and what you can expect in terms of offers on the mighty Taranis Model 40. Comments and questions are most welcome to info@theionage.com and I really enjoyed talking to wargamers last time on the email about this project and what is going to give them on the battlefield of the space opera future.

Thanks Sebastian. Vehicles make sense for their users I suppose. As we grow we will add other vehicles and some will be higher than others. Taranis is low and mean. Its a real killer out there in the Prydian Precinct.

Online Fans of the Ion Age

The Ion Age

Near a thousand years has passed since the galaxy brought itself to the brink of extinction in the Wars of the Khanate. Dragon ships burned a thousand worlds and humanity sank to its knees amid the ruins of its once glittering stellar commonwealth. At the battle for the Aldan star system the Ban of Prejudice was lifted and for once the liberated soldiers of the Free Companies stood shoulder to shoulder with the gene soldiers of the sterile Imperial Commonwealth; mankind once more united to stop an overwhelming alien threat. A billion men and woman died fighting and the matter gateway on Aldan IV newly built by the Khanate spewed forth legions from across the galactic plane at a rate that even the fanatical Templars of the Free Companies could not halt. It was then, according to the scorched records of the Starvaulters, that the Templars committed the greatest act of treachery even committed upon the body of humanity; creating the Dolorous Expanses. Whole star systems vanished and were replaced with impenetrable clouds of dust, covering dozens of light years each. An artefact of ancient design in the Aldan system, discovered by the Templars but kept secret, the Dolorous Expanses ended the wars at a stroke. Death and destruction beyond toll, changing the very face of the galaxy and all was still; the Free Companies cast out the Templars and the Imperium retreated into its shattered self. The Khanate...gone…for the time being.

Dark times followed and the fate of mankind looked grim, starvation gained hold and commerce fell to the wayside, as few starships could navigate the Dolorous Expanses and contact with the clouds meant instant obliteration. Inhabited worlds tortured their peoples in desperate acts of accelerated terra-forming; needing the land to feed themselves now that commerce was gone. The once zealot and fanatical Free Companies settled into an agrarian civilisation of fifty worlds bonded loosely by their ruling Barons, those of the Free Companies who had retained the armour and weapons of the mighty Crusader regiments.

On worlds such as New Glastonbury and its orbiting Tor these Barons consolidated their powers and on the whole were good to their people, they needed to be; too much had been lost already. Centuries passed and the region of space containing these green and pleasant worlds became known as the Prydian Precinct. Each stellar system looked to itself for sustenance and as technology returned the mighty starships refined their engines and learned how to use the titanic power of the Ion to generate intense magnetic fields and transport themselves instantly from one system to the next avoiding the deadly 'Dolo Clouds'. The need for a collective leadership became clear once more.

The core systems of Prydian space elected a council of Barons, who became the Aeddan's, to lead them and from among their number a titular head was chosen; a king to act on the behalf of all. To prevent the possible imperial ambitions of the past no standing army was allowed to be in the hands of the Aeddan Council or the King who resided on New Glastonbury. Each system would tend to its own needs to fend off pirates and mercenaries who did not respect the King's laws. Allotted to the Aeddan and the King were the million strong Starvaulters, an armed retinue to police the Prydian Precinct, but with no authority or desire to interfere with the Barons and their worlds; their impartiality was all that kept a vital respect for their judgements in matters the Barons could not agree upon.

For a time this arrangement worked and then war once more threatened the worlds of the Prydian Precinct, and war required troops. Millions of soldiers dressed once more in the augmented armour of their forefathers once more took to the field of battle on a hundred planets and countless orbiters and asteroids. It was in war that disaster fell, King Cyon III was killed, and he left his infant daughter in his place. A mere babe could not administer the needs of the Aeddan and their billions of charges, a guardianship was needed. The duty fell to Reckart Nevall a mighty Baron known as the 'Kingmaker' but his guardianship was not greeted by all with joy, over the fifteen years that followed two great camps grew within Prydian space and the Aeddan council split in twain.

A minor Baron whose world Kendal III was poor but populous brought the building tension to a head. Baron Kacj Dace rebelled against a judgement of the Starvaulters and called upon the Marcher Barons of the outer systems of Prydian space to assist him. This they did, seeing the Starvaulters as nothing more than Nevall's retinue to ensure his false control of the Aeddan Council. Naming themselves the League of Canlaster they elected Prince Edmund Bluefort as their rightful heir to the crown of Prydia and attacked Kendal III destroying the small force of Starvaulters on the planet. This single act ignited a civil war, a conflict the largest seen by the worlds of Prydian space for centuries. Nevall reacted with rage and called on the support of his own Marcher Barons to control the now teenage Princess Daphne Cyon and the throne she represented. He headed the League of Yordan named for his home world. The first battle of the Prydian Civil War was fought on Kendal III, many more soon followed. An elite strike force of Starvaulters stole Princess Cyon from Nevall's grasp and spirited her away to New Glastonbury where they now reside in force.

It is now the twelfth year of the Civil War and after suffering terrible setbacks and defeats the white and red uniformed troops of the Prydian Army have gained new vigour and are pushing the Leagues to their limit.Led by the veterans of the Starvaulters and driven by the Code Gallant the now adult Princess Daphne Cyon has promised to liberate each and every world in the Precinct and return it to the safe holding of the Addan Council.This she is doing to great effect and none in the Leagues seem able to prevent the cheering crowds and the flocking to the banners of the Addan.The Civil War might be nearing its end and for many this cannot come soon enough.

Rumours abound about the ever increasing numbers of Muster and Retained along with some of the shining lights of the Starvaulters being sent to the remote Carmarthen star cluster.Some have hinted that perhaps the Leagues are not the prime threat to Prydia and something else, something terrible lurks at the edge of Precinct space.An ancient enemy that all the preparation and new vitality of the Prydian Army may not be able to halt.

Do you want to liberate worlds held by the Marcher Barons or resist the advance of the Prydian Army? Or do you dream and fear of what is occurring in the remote Carmarthen star cluster?